Reunion

The weapon racks on both sides of the wall were full of firearms.

They come in various shapes and sizes; some are from Jianshe (a construction company), and some are from the north—all are domestic products.

A total of forty-five main weapons and sixteen secondary weapons, specifically designed to deal with the Spirit Calamity and monsters of the mortal world.

Xue Ming was stunned. Like Zhu Bajie tasting ginseng fruit, he had never seen such things before. If he didn't fire a few shots, he would have no idea how effective they were.

Boss Chen stood in front of the counter and put his sunglasses back on.

"Please select your primary weapon."

Jiang Xueming pointed to the row on the right. Based on his instinct for firearms, he chose the safest option, picking the tallest among the short ones.

On the weapon rack to the left, most of the magazines for the gun-shaped objects were painted blue or orange. Xue Ming knew that those were experimental models that had never seen combat; weapons companies and national research institutes did the same. Therefore, the ones on the right that looked more like active-duty equipment were more reliable.

Humans only have two hands and ten fingers, so modern weapons are bound to become simpler and more convenient to make. The same goes for bullets used against spirits; their design prototypes are all based on existing light weapons.

Fugui took the gun from the wall and handed it to Xue Ming.

"The prototype was designed based on my country's bullpup Type 95 assault rifle. It was the standard equipment for the first generation of armed members of the [Tian Shu] anti-spirit unit. The official name of the weapon design was [Wu Jing · Jiao Long] -- capable of using four different types of anti-spirit bullets."

Meanwhile, Xue Ming was inspecting the condition of the firearm, inserting and removing the magazine, and disassembling the bolt and breechblock.

Fu Gui took out four different types of ammunition from under the counter and showed them off one by one.

"This is a 5.8x40mm reduced-charge special-purpose rifle bullet, using a rock salt riot control projectile similar to talc powder. Upon impact with a human body, it instantly explodes into a cloud of smoke, causing significant damage to exposed circuit board components and wiring. It's equivalent to a miniature EMP—capable of blocking psionic energy. We call it Destroy Spirit Ammunition."

"There are three other types of ammunition of the same caliber. The second type is a trigram-shaped split warhead manufactured using nanoscale precision carving technology. When it hits an enemy, it will turn into sixty-four spiritual clumps of different shapes. It is used when attempting to capture spiritual entities, and we call it the Bind Spirit Bullet."

"The third type is tracking munitions, made by collecting the feces or pheromones of various disaster beasts through the General Administration's biological research institute. The smell is extremely pungent, and ordinary demons and monsters will flee at the mere whiff. You can track them using these pheromones, or call in armed employees for support. They can identify the markers and provide fire support from drones or helicopters. We call them Identify Spirit Bullet, or Stink Bomb."

"The last category."

Fu Gui paused suddenly at this point.

Jiang Xueming grabbed the last flat-headed bullet.

"Plastic capped, copper-plated flat-nosed bullets; they can kill, have a strong stopping power—used against large animals with simple brain structures, or criminals."

Fu Gui nodded. "Yes, all three types of ammunition can be used directly on hostages. Talc will damage the hostages' exposed skin, and powdered rock salt may cause them to lose a layer of skin, but it will never be fatal—the last type of bullet, we call it the Life Restart Bullet."

Xue Ming caught the solid lubricant that Brother Chen tossed to him, used it to maintain the gun, then put it into the spacious inner hook of his spirit suit and stuffed four magazines with different markings into his waistband.

Fu Gui then said, "Please choose your secondary weapon."

"Give me that," Xue Ming pointed to the pistol on the weapon rack, "That square thing."

It looks like a strange gun pieced together from multiple building blocks, with no underbarrel rail, a very primitive industrial design.

"This is the first generation of spirit-type pistols jointly designed by Northern and Tiantong. There is no prototype. It's called [Wujing·Leifengheng] -- it's not the same caliber as the Jiaolong, but I can help you replace the barrel and bolt."

Jiang Xueming: "Thank you for your hard work. I need eight pistol magazines."

Chen Fugui took out some hardware tools from the counter, preparing to disassemble the gun and replace the barrel. He casually asked, "Do you need any throwing weapons?"

Jiang Xueming had already disassembled everything. When Fugui looked up, he was surprised to see the table full of parts. "No need."

Chen Fugui simply handed over the bolt assembly and barrel to Xue Ming, letting the gunsmith take care of them.

"Does 'not need' mean you don't know how to use it? Or that you don't need it?"

"I don't know how to use them, and I don't need to." Jiang Xueming truthfully replied, "I've looked at these files. Although I don't understand some of the terminology, the mission locations are all in busy urban areas. Tear gas and stun grenades are useless against spirits and could easily cause panic. High explosives or flashbangs are even more pointless—I don't know the specifications of your projectiles. To use projectiles proficiently requires hundreds or thousands of training sessions. If you can't use them, it's the same as not knowing how to use them, and besides..."

Xue Ming loaded the pistol and tested the response speed by pulling the slide.

He raised his gun, aiming at the three points in a straight line, then immediately switched back to a central, locked fighting stance. With a kick, he shattered the umbrella, retrieved his the Unworthy Work, and held the gun in one hand and the stick in the other.

"My stick can emit 1200 lumens of light, which can create a strobe effect. If we don't have a better Molle—we can't carry that much stuff—eight magazines and two guns will be enough. When we have to squeeze through windows and climb over walls to get through courtyards and alleys, we'll try to be as light as possible."

Chen Fugui: "Besides that, you don't want anything else?"

"I don't need it," Jiang Xueming hesitated for a moment, then said, "Give me a needle and thread and Velcro."

In just a few minutes, two simple storage pocket buckles appeared on the two sleeves of the spirit robe. Xue Ming separated his the Unworthy Work and stuffed one pocket into the cuff on each side.

He straightened his arm, and the stick unlocked with the latch, falling into his hand under gravity. He repeated this several times—then put the stick away after striking it, his left arm reaching inside his spirit suit to pull out the dragon-shaped foregrip, ensuring a smooth and natural strike. Like magic, he instantly went from being completely unprepared in casual clothes to being in a fighting stance.

Chen Fugui looked at Xue Ming in surprise.

"If Xiao Bei had even half your gun-handling skills, he wouldn't need to beg Qiongqi to join him in battle every day."

Jiang Xueming packed away the weapons, laid out the dossier, and divided it into three parts.

"Brother Ye Bei's physique is not suitable for carrying weapons. He is very thin and his broad shoulders cannot support his spirit robe. His weapons would easily be exposed to the enemy. He has his own way of fighting."

Fu Gui: "That's true."

"Let's get down to business," Jiang Xueming said firmly. "Which Spirit Calamity should I address first?"

"Let's start here. This one's simpler; you can practice." Chen Fugui pushed one of the scrolls toward Xue Ming. "I'll arrange for an intelligence agent to work with you."

The case file had this simple and easy-to-understand title.

[Terror Artist]

It's like introducing the Spirit Calamity and Spirit Calamity main subject, the alias of monsters in modern society.

Following Fu Gui's instructions, Xue Ming obtained the intelligence agent's contact information.

The two agreed to meet on Guangyuan Middle Road in the Hengyin City to discuss the background of this "Terror Artist".

Jiang Xueming arrived promptly at 7 p. m. He encountered some minor troubles on the way, otherwise he would have arrived even earlier.

He doesn't like making people wait, but he also likes to wait for others; he usually arrives ten minutes or more early.

--But it was the height of summer, and the temperature of over 30 degrees Celsius made the Jiji·Spirit Clothes look quite conspicuous.

If your memory is good enough, you should remember that this spirit robe also functions as a small air conditioner. Xue Ming didn't feel hot at all while wearing it, but in the eyes of others, especially people on the bus, Xue Ming looked like a suspicious freak, with a bald head and wearing thick autumn and winter clothes.

To avoid looking too special or attracting attention, he took some time to buy a wig at the Dragon Fist Department Store to make himself look more rebellious, punk, and unconventional, hoping that his style wouldn't be so jarring.

The most bustling areas in the city center are also breeding grounds for criminals.

Heading towards the Huadu Hotel next to the arcade, the young thugs with their hair dyed a riot of yellow and green were discussing which floor to go to. Xue Ming's adoptive father definitely knew.

--This human trafficker had been planning to take his adopted son, Xueming, out to play and groom him into the next generation of criminal stars since Xue Ming was thirteen years old.

The fourth floor of this hotel is the student area, and you can find foreign women on the roof. Jiang Xueming can even recite their prices by heart because his adoptive father has told him so many times that even an illiterate person could remember the prices for human flesh.

I think your impression of Hengyin City should have gone from superficial to much deeper by now, right?

After putting on the wig, Xue Ming blended into the student group and walked past the visual kei youths without looking so flamboyant or conspicuous.

He arrived at the agreed location, went to the lemon tea shop next to the KTV, found a seat, and waited quietly.

He looked up at the foot massage parlor sign on the second floor of the entertainment complex, and the neon sign for the escape room murder mystery game on the third floor. In the distance, along the riverside scenic belt of the Yuming River, a drone light show had just begun.

Everything seemed to have become a little more civilized, just a little bit.

The old street is no longer as dirty and chaotic as it used to be, and there are no longer swindlers on the street trying to extort money from people by asking them for change.

But some things remain unchanged. Technological advancements have made the city seem more civilized. The parking attendants no longer openly belong to any gang, and Xue Ming can hardly name which young men's tattoos represent which faction in the city.

But these things still exist.

Just as he was feeling relaxed and appreciating the local customs and traditions of his hometown, and marveling at Brother Ye Bei's earnest teachings, telling him to take it slow, not to be so anxious, and to relax a bit,

A familiar girl came to the door.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey!" Qian's younger sister, A Xiang, sidled up to Xue Ming: "I see you again! What are you doing here?"

Jiang Xueming didn't reply, treating A Xiang as if she were invisible.

A Xiang looked left and right, staring intently at Xue Ming's blue wig, but dared not reach out to touch it.

"Um... Jiang Xueming, Jiang Xueming! Isn't that Jiang Xueming? I remember your name!"

Jiang Xueming: "You've mistaken me for someone else."

Upon hearing such heartless words, A Xiang immediately pouted. "How can I admit my mistake!"

She raised her hand, revealing a bracelet made of teeth.

"This is from you! I won't mistake it! I have a very good memory!"

By this time, Xue Ming knew he couldn't avoid it any longer. He looked at the lemon tea shop's sign; the intelligence officer was already late according to the agreed time, which puzzled him greatly.

He hadn't expected A Xiang to keep the bracelet, and the inexplicable restlessness in his heart gradually subsided.

"Um."

With just a soft reply, A Xiang immediately perked up.

Xue Ming shifted his gaze and looked directly at the seventeen-year-old girl.

She was wearing a crop top and off-the-shoulder top, the standard setup for a live-streaming influencer. She had dyed her hair blonde and was incredibly dedicated, even shaping her eyebrows yellow for makeup. She kept winking at Xue Ming.

"Hey! Hey bro! What are you doing here? You're watching my livestream too?"

At this point, A Xiang grabbed her phone and leaned close to Xue Ming, her shameless demeanor reminiscent of Xiao Qi.

"Oh! I know! You must be obsessed with my good looks~ You came here specifically to wait for me, right?"

Jiang Xueming: "No."

A Xiang: "Don't deny it! Don't be so cold! I know you're too shy to say it, hehehe."

"A Xiang, do you know?" Xue Ming looked down at his phone, ordering drinks for the intelligence officer, and said to A Xiang, "The most bustling area in the entire Hengyin is only about 600 meters long. It's not surprising that you met me here."

A Xiang: "I like people who are stubborn."

Xue Ming continued, "The smaller the place, the more personal connections matter, and the more personal connections matter, the less rule of law there is. In this city, if you know fifty people and then those fifty people introduce you to three hundred more, you can basically say with confidence that you can use money to get all the connections you need here."

A Xiang felt increasingly uneasy as she listened, and eventually dared not speak.

"So your meeting with me wasn't some elaborate scheme on my part." After placing the order, Jiang Xueming scanned his surroundings, focusing on the task and trying to locate the location described in the Spirit Calamity scroll. He told A Xiang, "It's just because this place is small and the demonic winds are strong, the pond is shallow and there are many turtles. More than four thousand people come here after five o'clock in the evening, and the number of visitors in one night is close to twenty thousand—young people from every household in the entire city will run to Guangyuan Middle Road, that's all."

"Jiang Xueming," A Xiang finally regained consciousness and spoke to Xue Ming about what had happened last time, "Thank you."

Jiang Xueming: "You're welcome."

"You taught that bastard a lesson for me," A Xiang said timidly. "You didn't get into trouble with the authorities, did you?"

This girl knew very well that he was no pushover.

Because of Xue Ming's beauty, she fell deeply in love and became truly enraged. That one moment of infatuation almost turned her and her sister into victims in a criminal case.

Xue Ming: "No."

"That's good, that's good. Do you have a QR code for receiving payments?" A Xiang wanted to transfer some money to Xue Ming.

Xue Ming: "No."

"Damn it!" A Xiang tried to take the opportunity to add him on WeChat, but he wasn't buying it at all.

After searching for most of the day, Xue Ming still couldn't find the specific location in the Spirit Calamity Scroll. It seemed that, just as Brother Chen had said, these kinds of underworld creatures wouldn't show up until after midnight.

The area around Dragon Fist Department Store and the entertainment center is filled with side streets and alleys, with a complex network of paths. There are numerous small shops converted from residential buildings and residential buildings, with layers upon layers of buildings crammed into this bustling commercial street that has been thriving for over twenty years. If an out-of-towner who is unfamiliar with the area comes in, it will be difficult to find their way out, let alone find the specific address based on the house number.

Right now, at this very moment.

A young, unfamiliar woman came to the lemon tea shop and took Xue Ming's drink.

Hello! Terror Artist?

That person was the intelligence agent that Tian Shu had assigned to Xue Ming. She was a woman who looked to be in her early twenties, very young.

She wore a black and red sailor uniform, small leather shoes, and long socks. Her hair was long, with side bangs and a herringbone cut, which made her face look smaller.

Jiang Xueming: "Yes, may I ask why?"

The woman glanced at the burden beside Xue Ming.

Bringing your girlfriend to work? That's inappropriate, isn't it?

Jiang Xueming picked up the case file and handed it to the woman. "I don't know her well; I've only met her once."

The woman handed the second bottle of lemon tea from the counter to A Xiang, leaving none for Xue Ming, and finally gave her name.

"Tianji Department, temporary worker, Sima Yao."